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MJO

MIXED MEDIA

I am someone who really enjoys creating not only meaningful art, but sustainable. By reimagining materials from everyday life - whether that's a plastic or paper bag, and old shoe box, or dried paint - I like to incorporate it to eliminate waste and turn trash to treasure. 

1st Submission

"And a few of those pies, please" - Little Red Riding Hood (Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods)

I am currently working on Into the Woods at Saratoga Children's Theatre and was tasked with making some props. For this I used an old box (holding a shoe rack) and cut two large circles (a box cutter is a really helpful tool here). From there, I laid the two circles on top of each other and cut the individual slices to ensure same sizing for both. The remaining pieces of the large box were used to make the 3D sculptural shape. Adhered with love and a lot of hot glue, we accomplished the basic shape. Any literal holes were covered with strips of a Hannaford paper bag. From here I painted (using acrylics) the final touches to make the pies read well from a stage - focusing on large shapes and form rather than specific line structure. (Process photos on left)

2nd Submission

Along the same lines of creating sustainable art, I used found object to create this next one. Reusing old plastic water and soda bottles, I felt these resembled the body shape of a bird. I cut old (bendable) cardboard into wings and hot glued them to the sides of the bottle to act as wings. Using old leaflets from the Cathedral I live across from, I ripped them into small pieces to paper mache them to the surface of the bottles. A mixture of flour, water, and glue created a strong exterior once dried.  I liked the mixture of words, but I wanted them to feel more bird like. Using packing tape to adhere fine wire to the bird, I twisted the wires into triangles to create a secure holding system and alleviate any destruction to one side of the bird. I wanted further movement to be involved so I cut up tissue paper (from last Christmas) into little teardrop pieces to add a feather texture. The final process was wrapping the wire onto long wooden rods and further securing with hot glue. 

3rd Submission

Working with similar materials as previously; cardboard, recycled leaflets from The Cathedral of All Saints, hot glue, and acrylics, I made this giant life-like pencil for my mom's classroom. She is a school librarian and is always looking for unique ways to decorate her classroom and encourage children to look and think beyond the typical scope. Creating this felt fitting for her and her workspace. 

Beginning with a large cardboard box (previously holding a cricut), I gently etched long notches into the box to allow for ease of bend and not a full cut. This was done in sections of two. This allowed for the hexagonal pencil shape to develop. From the scraps of the box, I tried to create the eraser - it's beginnings were more jagged than I'd hoped, but fixed this later with paper. I then fit the eraser into the opening at the top of the pencil beginnings and adhered with hot glue. Any openings were filled with paper in insure it would not fall out and add pressure so the shape could hold. A similar process for the pencil tip took place - although now I needed more box. Cutting a circle from another box, and following the etch cut from before, I was able to make the tip. 
From here, I covered the eraser and large pencil part (minus tip) with leaflets to allow for easy coloration and additional aid in holding the pieces together with hot glue and modge podge. Then I painted the yellow and pink acrylic paint, allowed for dry and further went in with the details! Once it was all together, the final part was done in my mom's library with tying fishing wire around small holes in the base to allow it to hang from her ceiling and look like it was floating off a page. Black tape was used to create the floating line from the pencil. This was the most challenging, yet most rewarding so far. The pencil stands about 3 feet tall and about a foot wide.

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@jaynie.odell    @mjsartroom

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